Chapter 142

“Christian!” Frankie shouts, making me jump as he slams his hand down on the table and then gets to his feet. “This is absolutely the wrong fucking plan!”

“Sit down, Frank!” Christian shouts back, clearly getting mad at his bodyguard. “You’re out of line!”

“You’re letting this desire for power get to your head, Christian,” Frankie growls, his words coming from somewhere low in his throat, slipping through his teeth as he points a finger directly at my husband. My eyes go wide as I stare at him, because I’ve never seen Frankie act like this before. “You are getting way too hungry – it’s making you make stupid fucking choices –“

“Sit. Down!” The words boom from Christian’s throat and Frankie snaps his mouth shut, glaring hard at his boss, his don. He doesn’t sit but he stays quiet, shaking his head just slightly.

“I would never,” Christian says, starting his sentence by glaring at Frankie and then turning his head to me. “Put you in a situation, Iris, where you would actually get hurt. It’s completely controlled – it can’t go wrong.”

“Okay,” I say, reaching out and slipping my hand into his. “I trust you, Chris. What…whatever you want me to do I’ll do it.”

Frankie groans like he can’t help it, turning away as he digs his hands into his short hair. “This is such shit.”

“Frank!” Christian growls, snapping his head back to his friend. Nico just sits back on his hands, watching everything happen.

“You’re taking advantage of her, Chris!” Frankie snaps, turning back to us and throwing a hand out towards me. “She’s in love with you – she’ll do anything you ask her to! Even put her damn life on the line –“

“Enough,” Christian barks, slicing a hand though the hair between him and Frankie. Frankie growls but again falls silent.

I take a deep breath, looking between the two of them, not…not knowing what to do or what to think. Because I trust both of them completely – but who is right here? Chrisitan, who promises me that I’ll be safe? Or Frankie, who says it’s too dangerous?

“Iris,” Christian says, pulling my attention back to him as he turns towards me, taking both of my hands. “We just need you to show up at Lupa, to make yourself…seen. Bonetti – he’s still going to be pissed that I took you from him, that I killed his men while I did it. He’ll want vengeance for that.”

“So, is Bonetti going to take me again?” I ask, my voice tight. Because I don’t think I can handle that – I’m not sure I’ll survive it this time.

“No,” Christian replies, his voice steel. “Not even close. Bonetti won’t come for you himself, he’ll send his men. And when they come for you, we’ll take his men ourselves – a trap. When we’ve got them, we’ll send Bonetti word that if he wants them back he has to meet with us – a simple trade. One meeting in exchange for their lives.”

“Oh,” I say, some of the tension leaving my shoulders. Because…I mean, that doesn’t sound so bad. That I feel like I could do.

“We will be with you the entire time, Iris,” Christian says, “except for two minutes when you walk out of Lupa alone.”

I bite my lip because…well, Lupa was where I got kidnapped the first time. And it took less than two minutes then. Anxious, I glance at Frankie, who subtly shakes his head from side to side, telling me not to do it.

“Don’t look at him, look at me,” Christian snaps, and I obey, turning my head to look into his dark blue eyes. “Trust me, Iris. I would never put you in danger. I would never risk losing you. But this is…a very simple solution to a complicated problem. And we’ve got to move fast.” He reaches up and cups my cheek in his palm – and, oddly enough, I have a flashback to last night, when I did the same thing to Frankie.

Guilt rolls in me. God, had I gone too far?

“Okay,” I say instantly, nodding. “I’ll do it – of course I’ll do it.”

Christian’s face breaks into his beautiful smile. “You’re amazing,” he breathes, leaning forward to wrap his arms around me. I reach up and put my arms around his neck and he lifts, pulling me up with him, pulling me into his lap where I curl up.

“It will really be okay?” I whisper, anxious.

“I promise you, baby,” he replies, resting his forehead against mine. “The simplest day’s work you’ve ever had.”

I nod, pressing a swift kiss to his mouth before turning to look at Frankie – who just stares at me, sadness in his expression – and then to Nico, who gives me a steady nod.

“Um,” I say, a little confused at something Christian said. “Why…why do we have to move fast? Is something…different?”

Nico raises an eyebrow at me before shifting his eyes to Christian. “She’s observant too.”

I turn and look at my husband, confused.

“We have to move fast,” Christian sighs, a hand stroking casually up and down my side, over my ribs. “Because…I think my brother is making a move.”

“Tony?” I ask, my eyes going wide. God – I never thought he could do something like that. Tony – he’s very much a part of this world, but I’m not sure I think of him as deeply…capable.

“Not Tony,” Christian answers, dry. “Lorenzo.”

“Lorenzo!?” I gasp, a little shocked. I mean, Lorenzo was so nice to me the other night – and he seemed totally out of touch, much more than Giana.

“Lorenzo is jealous,” Nico says casually, and I turn to look at him. “He knows he got shoved out of the line of succession by Christian – and the other night at dinner sealed it. He’s been cleaning up his act – I think the birth of his third child helped him snap back into reality – and he’s been making it clear that he wants his spot back. As top dog, favorite child. Romano heir.”

“Shit,” I whisper, frowning and turning back to Christian. “But…didn’t you tell your dad you wanted…to start a separate family?”

Christian shakes his head at me, dismissing the point. “It…all just gets more complicated if Lorenzo actually gets involved,” he says, still petting me with his right hand. “We need to move now before he takes any actual power in the family. Before it gets more complicated.”

“Oh,” I say, not really getting it but…well, I’m still new to everything, aren’t I? “Um, what does this mean for Tony and Lucy?” I ask, frowning.

“What do you mean?” Christian says, tilting his head a little.

“Well, I mean, Tony…do you think he’d still be loyal to you, if Lorenzo is making a move as well?”

“It’s not a bad question,” Nico says, spreading his hands out. “Something we definitely need to consider, moving forward.”

“All right,” Christian says, nodding to me, a proud little smile on his lips. “Definitely something we’ll bake into the plans.

“Okay.” I say, nodding and loosing a long breath. “I guess…let’s get started?”

Christian smiles at me and nods and I smile back.

But I find myself turning to Frankie anyway, wanting to know what he thinks.

“This is a mistake,” Frankie says, his arms crossed over his chest, his voice grave. “It’s all a huge mistake.”